


Reggie Mantle: Bisexual and Out of the Closet

by orphan_account



Category: Riverdale (TV 2017)
Genre: Acceptance, Christmas, Coming Out, Established Relationship, Fluff, Good Parent Fred Andrews, Homophobia, Homophobic Language, M/M, Protective Fred Andrews, Sneaking Out, Snow, Snowball Fight, kicked out of house
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-20
Updated: 2020-07-20
Packaged: 2021-03-04 23:49:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,362
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25404904
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: Living in the closet is hard. Living in the closet with a homophobic father who owns a gun is also hard. Living in the closet while dating Archie Andrews, the town heartthrob, with a homophobic father who owns a gun is probably as hard as it can get.And of course, this is the reality for one Reggie Mantle.
Relationships: Archie Andrews/Reggie Mantle, Betty Cooper/Jughead Jones, Cheryl Blossom/Toni Topaz
Comments: 7
Kudos: 22





	1. Chapter 1

Living in the closet is hard. Living in the closet with a homophobic father who owns a gun is also hard. Living in the closet while dating Archie Andrews, the town heartthrob, with a homophobic father who owns a gun is probably as hard as it can get. 

And of course, this is the reality for one Reggie Mantle. 

Reggie's father had always wanted a son who was as manly as him. Reggie always tried to live up to his expectations. He was captain of the football team, had gone through many girls, and even got into fights from time to time. He was the perfect manly-highschool-jock. And yet, he'd majorly fucked it all up from the beginning by being bisexual. He'd always known that he wasn't completely straight. There were times when he was watching movies and he couldn't help but watch the boys. Or when he was walking through the men's underwear aisle...

The point is, Reggie had always known. It wasn't that he was ashamed of it, it was just that he wouldn't display it outwardly for everyone to see. He'd had plenty of crushes on boys, but he'd never acted on them. He would always get over them eventually. Sometimes he would get lucky and they'd end up moving away. No one needed to know that Reggie Mantle was in the closet. And for a while, no one did know. 

But then, enter Archie Andrews the first day of sophomore year. 

The boy had always had the most beautiful brown eyes, but Reggie always thought of him as a friend. They'd never really hang out together, both of them belonging to two different friend groups. But when Reggie walked through the doors of the high school... He couldn't believe what he was seeing. Archie had had a major glow-up during the summer. 

The muscles on his arms were prominent and the little pudginess that he'd always had was gone. The babyface the boy could never get rid of was done for, leaving behind the mask of a handsome man. Reggie could tell that Archie had a six-pack under the tight fitted shirt he was wearing. Not that he was looking, of course.

Reggie very quickly became infatuated with the boy. It scared him a little, to be honest. It scared him because this wasn't some school-boy crush. He really was in love with Archie Andrews. And like every other girl in the school, he was totally screwed. 

Reggie's mother had always told him that he fell in love too easily. Whether it with some toy that he saw on TV, or with some random girl in his class as he got older. He was always crushing on someone. To be honest, if Reggie were to come out, his mother would probably be the more accepting one out of his parents. 'Accepting' isn't the right word. She'd tolerate him until he moved out. That is precisely the reason why Reggie hadn't told her about his secret relationship with Archie. Surprise! Archie did in fact like Reggie back!

It's a long story, but it involved a few too many drinks at a party, one of Cheryl's many bedrooms, and a very awkward car ride home when Mr. Andrews picked them both up. 

Reggie could tell that Fred Andrews knew that there was always something more going on between the two. He didn't know what to be exact, but there had always been a different kind of vibe coming off them.

But Reggie was fed up with living in the closet all the time. He wanted to be free, goddammit. He wanted to hold his boyfriend's hand in the hallways, he wanted to sneak kisses in between classes, he wanted to live for fuck's sake. He was sick of having to creep around everywhere, sick of needing to drive to places two towns over so they didn't get caught. Why couldn't he have his happy ending? Why couldn't he have his perfect high school romance?

"Reggie, what happened to your cheek?"

Reggie had snuck out to meet up with Archie at Pop's. They'd planned on catching a late movie in Violetdale, which was a few towns over. 

"I think I scratched it on some branches while I was climbing down," Reggie said, his face burrowed into Archie's shoulder. 

"Does it hurt? I have some bandages in the car, hold on." Reggie watched him get out and walk across the parking lot to Mr. Andrews's car. He kept a close eye for anyone from school that might've been grabbing a late snack. 

Archie cleaned and applied the bandage to Reggie's cheek, "We should probably get going. It takes half an hour to get there, and the movie is at 2:00."

They were sitting in Bella just in case someone saw them sitting in one of the booths in the chocklit shoppe at midnight. Despite being in the car, both of them were still hunched down in fear of someone spotting them. 

Reggie sighed, "I'm sick of this, Red." 

"Sick of what?" Archie looked at him a little panicked. 

"Sick of hiding all the time. I want to hold your hand in public, Archie. I just want to be a normal couple. I'm done having to watch those bitches from the cheerleading team drooling all over you all the time." The Vixens were probably the most annoying people on the planet. 

Archie's expression relaxed and he laughed a little, "It sounds like you're jealous." He leaned forward and kissed him. 

"I am jealous," Reggie said, once they broke the kiss, "I wish I could grab you whenever I want and make out with you. I hate scratching my face up from the branches every time I sneak out." 

"You're also just clumsy," the boy ran a hand through his hair, "But you're right. I don't like lying to everyone about where I go all the time. And I can't say I don't like the idea of you making out with me wherever we go." 

Reggie laughed and grabbed Archie's face, "You know... We don't have to watch the movie. There are other things we can do." He inched forward and looked at the redhead's lips before making eye contact again.

Archie raised an eyebrow and smirked, "What other things?"

Their lips were barely millimeters apart before Reggie gave in and kissed him. They could worry about coming out later. 

They ended up missing their movie and drove around Violetdale for an hour. Reggie parked Bella at the edge of a park and looked at Archie. He couldn't imagine how he got such a beautiful person to love him. It seemed fake. Like he was going to wake up in his bed and forget all about it. And yet, here he was sitting in this car with Archie, watching as the light from the streetlamps hit the red hair on his head, making it look like it was glowing. 

"What?" 

"Nothing," Reggie said, "I'm just looking." 

Archie looked at him for a moment before blushing and looking away, "Let's walk around the town square over there." He pointed at the bright lights coming off of the buildings about half a mile away. 

The December-air chilled Reggie down to his bones, making him shiver as he walked with Archie. The snow on the ground was getting through his boots, drenching his socks and making his feet cold. He should've worn a hat. Archie reached forward and grabbed Reggie's hand in his, giving it a little squeeze before smiling and kissing him on the cheek. Just like that, all complaints he would've said about walking in the cold vanished. All his thoughts were about the beautiful boy walking by his side. 

"It's so quiet here," Archie said, "There'd be some type of rave going on in the town square back in Riverdale." 

"The place is beautiful, too. The Christmas lights add to it, but I feel like it'd look this pretty all the time," he replied. 

"I think there's music playing, listen." 

The two fell silent as they listened to the Christmas music playing. It was very faint, you'd never be able to hear it in the daytime. Reggie couldn't hear it until Archie pointed it out. 

_I don't want a lot for Christmas, there is just one thing I need. I don't care about the presents underneath the Christmas tree..._

"Ugh, I hate this song," Reggie said, "It's so overplayed this time of year."

"What! This is THE Christmas song, nothing will ever beat _All I Want For Christmas_ " 

"She gets all the credit for Christmas."

"She got all the credit for a reason, Reggie. I can't believe you don't like it!" 

Reggie rolled his eyes, "Whatever. There are hundreds of other songs that are better than this." 

"No way!" 

"Yes way, I'd rather listen to a _real_ Christmas song."

"And what would that be?"

"Ariana Grande's cover of _Last Christmas_."

"WHAT!" 

"Don't get me started, that song is a masterpiece!" 

Archie laughed and picked up a ball of snow, "I'll give you two seconds to take that back right now!" 

"Don't you dare!" Reggie backed away slowly.

Archie through the snowball and it hit him square in the chest, knocking him back a little. 

"Oh now you're in for it," Reggie growled playfully. 

He picked up as much snow that would fit in his hand and shoved it into Archie's face. 

"Reggie!"

The two of them threw snow at each other, messing up the peacefulness of the cold night. They were both soaking wet when Reggie slipped on some ice as he was running towards Archie, crashing into him. Archie grabbed his shirt as he stumbled back, taking down Reggie with him. The two of them landed on the snow on top of each other, the only thing keeping them from freezing being their own bodies. He closed his eyes as Archie cupped his face, pulling it towards him. Their lips connected, incoherently moving against one another. They were chapped from the cold, but they didn't notice. It was perfect as it was. 

_All I want for Christmas is you._

"See you at school tomorrow," Archie said as they parted ways at the parking lot, "Don't hurt yourself sneaking back in." 

"Bye," Reggie said. 

He watched as the love of his life walked towards the car. He wanted to show people how much he loved him. He wanted other people to be jealous of their relationship. He wanted to be the power couple that everyone envied. And so, definitely not for the first time, Reggie acted on an impulse. 

"Archie! Wait!" 

Reggie ran to Archie's car before he left. 

"What? Did I forget something—"

Reggie cut him off and kissed him right in the middle of the parking lot. 

"I forgot to say I love you," Reggie said once they broke apart. 

Archie's mouth was slightly open as he quickly looked around to see if anyone had spotted them, "Reggie, what did you just do? What if someone saw us?" 

Reggie interrupted him again with a quick peck on his lips, "If we're going to come out we're going to have to get used to making out everywhere. Besides, there's no one here, this was just for practice."

Archie raised an eyebrow, "Practice."

"Practice kissing in public places."

"Uh-huh."

"Practice kissing your cute face in public totally not because I missed you the moment you left the car."

Archie smiled, "You're an idiot." 

"We have to tell at least someone tomorrow."

"Fine, we'll tell ONE person at school." Archie leaned forward and gave him another kiss. 

Reggie smiled cheekily. "I love you, red. I really don't know what I would do without you." 

The boy blushed, "I love you too, Reggie." 

"Well, I've got to go before my parents realize I'm missing, bye. For real this time." 

Archie laughed and got back in his car. One person wasn't much, but it was a start, right? 

Reggie groaned as he pulled into the driveway of his house. The living room lights were all on as were the ones in the kitchen. They'd probably heard him fall into the bushes while he was sneaking out. 

"Adi gassassa?" His mother was dressed in her nightgown with a furious look on her face. He was in trouble. 

"Uhh... I was just," Reggie gestured idly as he tried to come up with an excuse, "Hanging out."

"Hanging out? Bamsa nul gidarigo issassa," she yelled at him in rapid-fire Korean, "Ne abuzziga hwanassguna! You have school tomorrow and you're up at this hour? You idiot! Nu yeoxi dumbuleul mangciossa! Ywae ige gwaenchanheun jul alassa?"

"Alassayo, amma mianhaeo! Chingu zom mannariogo hassnende gge days." 

"No, you weren't." Reggie's heart sank as his father walked into the room. The lighting somehow dimmed on cue, as if the room was also holding its breath in fear of what would happen next. 

"What do you mean? I was just—"

"Don't lie to me, boy!" 

Reggie shut up. 

His father slammed down a file on the dining room table, "Look inside, Reggie." 

Reggie picked up the Manila file on the table with shaky hands. His eyes started tearing up against his will as he looked through it. Inside, there were multiple pictures of him and Archie on their dates. Each picture was marked with a date, time, and a brief description of what they did. He looked at all the pictures again, hoping they weren't real or there was some excuse he could make. He felt violated, exposed, he was just so disappointed. Disappointed in himself for being so reckless, for not being more careful of his surroundings. He's dragged Archie down with him. 

"What's going on? What's in the file," his mother asked frantically. 

His father snatched the folder out of his hands and gave it to his mother, "Look at it, see what this worthless boy really is." 

Tears were streaming down both Reggie's face and his mother's. She dropped the folder on the floor and looked at him, "What is the meaning of this?" 

Reggie opened his mouth to speak but no sound came out. His throat was clogged from the tears and he couldn't see properly because of his watery eyes. 

"Your son is a fag," his father spat out. 

He had never seen that much anger in his father's eyes, the amount of hatred and repulsion that his father spoke to him with. 

"You raised a faggot, Melinda." 

She shook her head, "No, it can't be true! It's just a phase, he'll outgrow it. Right? You're normal," She looked at him then looked back her husband, "He's normal, Marty!" 

"No." Reggie finally got a word out. 

"What do you mean, no?" His father took a step forward.

"It's not just a phase. I'll always love Archie." 

"He turned you gay, Reggie! Don't you understand, there's still time to fix this," his mother said. 

"He didn't turn me into anything, mom. I love boys the same way I love girls, there's no chance of a change that will ever happen! I've always been like this, don't you understand? I AM normal," Reggie said. He'd been wishing for a chance to come out and here it was. 

"You're confused, boy," his father said, "A month at the Sisters of Quiet Mercy will fix him." 

Reggie shuddered at the subject of the conversion center at the Sisters. 

"The only ones who aren't normal here are you two! You're so full of hatred for anyone you see in the street, out in public, everywhere! You think anyone that isn't the exact same as you has something wrong with them! Don't you get it? I'm not like you, I don't hate everyone that walks in front of me. I love Archie and I always will! I love boys and girls! I'll never change, I'll always be like this. And if you don't agree, there's something wrong in your head." 

He stood there for a moment, trying to regain his bearings when suddenly, he felt a sharp pain. His father had punched him in the face, directly on his eye hard enough for Reggie to know it would cause a black eye. He stumbled back, knocking over the decorations on the wall his mother had worked hard on. He was just recovering when his father punched him a second time on his cheekbone. Punch after punch, his father kept hitting him, but Reggie didn't fight back. He just stood there silently, letting it all happen. He put a finger to his lip and drew it back, seeing it wet with blood. His entire body hurt from all the blows and he wanted nothing more than to wake up from this terrible nightmare.

"We do so much for you, and you go behind our backs and fuck some red-headed faggot?" His father said. 

And that was Reggie's breaking point. 

Reggie moved forward a speed he had never used before and punched his father, knocking him back into the wall. A family picture fell down on top of his head and shattered into a million pieces as it fell to the ground. 

His mother screamed for them to stop, saying something delusional about how God will help Reggie. He ignored her. 

His father got back up and the two of them got into a full-on fight, hitting, kicking, punching each other. Reggie's knuckles were hurting and his body and common sense were telling him to stop but he didn't listen and kept going. 

"Stop! Please, stop!" His mother's voice was shrill with fear. 

Reggie faltered for a moment and his father got in one last punch before the two of them stumbled back on opposite sides, both of them exhausted and in pain. 

"We can fix this!" 

"No, we can't! There's nothing to fix! I'm leaving, I can't live in this fucking house with you idiotic, delusional, small-minded people," Reggie grabbed his keys and moved for the door, "I'm leaving and I'm not coming back!" 

"Where are you going? There's nowhere for you to stay," his mother grabbed his wrist and tried to pull him back, "Let us fix this, please, Reggie we can fix you, you'll be our perfect boy again!" 

"Let him go, Melinda! He's going to that freaks house, they're both freaks! Have fun being a fag, you failure! You're no son of mine, don't ever step foot in my house ever again, you hear me? Never! All your stuff will be on the lawn tomorrow morning!" 

Reggie nodded curtly and turned for the door. He was standing on the porch when a bout of laughter climbed up his throat and left his mouth into the December night. He was always going to be Marty Mantle's son, no matter how much he denounced him. 

"Look at him, Melinda! He's laughing! He's gone insane!" 

Reggie was laughing so hard, tears coming out of his eyes, "I'll always be your son, dad, there's nothing you can do about it!"

And with that, he cupped his hands around his mouth and yelled as loud as he could, "MARTY MANTLE'S SON FUCKS BOYS AND GIRLS! BOTH OF THEM! HE SUCKS DICK AND EATS PUSSY AND THERE'S NOTHING HIS PARENTS CAN DO ABOUT! EVERYONE HEAR THAT? HIS SON IS BISEXUAL, HE FUCKS EVERYBODY AND THERE'S NOTHING ANYONE CAN DO TO STOP HIM!"

The neighbors had heard the commotion from their house earlier and were awake watching everything happen from their windows. There was no way his yelling fell on deaf ears. Everyone knew now, but somehow Reggie felt different. He was free, there was no one stopping him. Laughing like a child in a candy store, he ran to his car before his evil father could stop him and started the ignition. He was free to do anything he liked. Of course, in the morning. Right now, he was too tired and in pain to go around parading in a bi flag with Archie, Kevin, and anyone else that wasn't straight. 

He drove through the neighborhoods, wondering how many shares the video of him outing himself had gotten already. He'd already had three missed calls from Josie, Kevin, and Moose. He vaguely remembered getting tagged in an Instagram story by Cheryl, but he couldn't focus on one thing for too long before his mind drifting to other subjects. Where was he going to live? He couldn't stay at Archie's forever. Eventually, he'd need to find someplace permanent for the next year of high school before college. He'd need a job too, and balancing that with his schoolwork AND football? Forget about it. He'd end up going to Riverdale Community College instead of somewhere out of state like he'd been hoping. The only hope he had left was scholarships... Reggie needed to stop overthinking. He'd just come out! He's supposed to be super happy right now, not worrying about college!

One second he was getting beat up by his dad for being bisexual, the second he was standing on the porch of his boyfriend, holding a wilted flower from the lawn that had seen its last days sometime in October. He held his fist timidly to the door when Archie suddenly opened it before he knocked. 

"Oh my god, Reggie! I saw the video, are you alright?" 

He was being pulled into the house by a worried Archie, "What happened? Fuck dude, how did they find out?" 

"Archie stop, wait," Reggie looked around for a moment before whispering in Archie's ear, "I really fucking need to collapse in your arms to cry while you run your hands through my hair and tell me that it'll all be alright." 

He moved back to see his boyfriend's amused-worried expression before leaning back in to keep talking, "What I mean to say is where can we go to do just that?" 

Archie smiled, "Right here! After we clean you up, of course," he grew serious again, "You have so many bruises, and you're bleeding too..."

"Wait, what do you mean, right here?"

"I told my dad! After we came back, he noticed I was gone and stayed up to ground me or something. I told him then."

Reggie smiled, he was genuinely happy for Archie, albeit a little jealous, but he never let that come in the way, "Wow! That's great, what did he say?" 

"His reaction was... Very much different from your dad's so to speak," he looked a little cautious and Reggie knew what he was thinking. 

He pulled Archie into a tight hug and kissed his forehead before burying his face into Archie's shoulder, "I love you, Archie." 

"I love you too, let's get you fixed up." 

Fred Andrews came down to see the two of them cuddling on the couch twenty minutes later. He'd heard them talking and came down to see what the commotion was about.

"What the hell! Reggie, what happened to you?"

Reggie laughed nervously, "I had my own uh— coming out moment."

"Can you believe it, dad? Mr. Mantle hired a _private investigator_ just to see what Reggie was doing instead of just asking! A private investigator on his own son!"

"Wait, what?" 

"Tell him, Reg!" 

Mr. Andrew's eyebrows climbed higher and higher up his forehead as Reggie told his story.

Reggie showed him the video of him yelling in the street, "I kind of told the whole neighborhood towards the end." 

"Well, it got the word out, that's for sure," Mr. Andrews said, laughing.

"Dad his parents kicked him out and he needs a place to stay," Archie said, absentmindedly petting Reggie's hair. 

"He can take the guest room for however long he needs. Though, I don't know if he'll be sleeping in there every night," he raised his eyebrows. 

"Dad!"

Archie blushed as Reggie laughed his ass off. 

"Speaking of sleep, both of you have had a very long night, I think the two of you should hit the hay. It's a school night too." 

Reggie yawned on cue at the subject of sleep. It was five AM which meant they only had three more hours to sleep if they skipped first period. 

School would be a whole other battle to deal with. 


	2. Chapter 2

"Reggie..." Archie said softly in a sing-song voice, trying to wake up his boyfriend as gently as he could. 

Last night had been quite hectic, to say the least. Waking up with a start after just two hours of sleep would probably not be fun. 

Reggie groaned quietly, throwing his arm over Archie and pulling him in close, "Let's just skip school, Red." 

"We can't skip," Archie chuckled, "We need to see our friends. Also, I think we have a geometry test fifth period." 

That got him going. Reggie jumped out of bed and started running around, grabbing the spare toothbrush Archie kept for him whenever he stayed over. 

"We have to walk into that building looking like the most badass couple in the entire world! Can I borrow this hoodie?" 

Archie smiled and walked over, “Stop worrying.” 

“We have to beat every other couple in the entire school, Red.”

“Pshh we don’t even have to try, the moment we walk in the school people are going to be staring at us,” Archie said it amusingly, but in reality, it seemed quite daunting. He’d have to answer hundreds of questions from everyone in sight. Good thing football season was over, they didn’t have to deal with the awkwardness of the locker rooms. 

“We have to win against Choni.” 

Archie threw his head back and laughed, “We can win against them at the best couple awards at the Christmas dance next weekend.” 

Reggie grinned evilly, “They won’t know what hit em!” 

Archie pressed a kiss to Reggie's lips. 

"So can I borrow the hoodie or not?" 

"Yes, you can. But make sure to give it back!" The hoodie wasn't even Archie's, he'd borrowed it from Reggie but kept it for himself long enough for Reggie to forget about it. 

His dad had left for work already, but he'd left out pancakes for the two of them. Archie smiled, his dad only made pancakes whenever something special happened. Knowing how much his dad supported him made him feel loved. He made a mental note to splurge a little more than his usual 'World's Best Dad' mugs for his father's Christmas presents. 

He glanced at Reggie. His boyfriend deserved loving parents. Not the evil, homophobic monsters he'd gotten stuck with instead. Archie couldn't imagine living in that house knowing that his parents would never accept him for who he was. Having to step on eggshells around them in fear of the big secret getting out. Reggie's father had taken away his son's only chance of coming out to them, and instead of reassuring him that they loved him just the same, he fought and kicked him out.

The thought made Archie sad. He reached out and held Reggie's hand. 

"Is everything alright?" Reggie's voice shook him from his thoughts, "You look sad." 

"Yeah— I uh, I was just thinking." 

"About..." Reggie drew out the word, giving Archie's hand a squeeze. 

"You really didn't deserve all the shit your parents did to you." 

Reggie sighed and moved closer to Archie, "At least it's over, right? I get to say that I lived through that. Besides, who needs them? I have you, Archie. You take all the pain away."

Archie studied Reggie's expression, "So there's is a pain to take away." 

Reggie averted his eyes and took a bite of his breakfast. He looked a little tense so Archie decided to stop pushing. They'd cross that bridge another time. 

"But we can fix that pain later," Archie added, running a hand through Reggie's curls. He relaxed a little bit in his arms and continued to let him caress his hair. 

"It's not like it was a surprise either," Reggie said, swallowing the last of his pancake, "I told you from the start, we'd have to keep it a secret for a little while. I guess it just happened sooner than I originally thought." 

He hummed in agreeance, "We should get going. Betty is for sure going to make us walk with her to school," an impatient knock came from their door. "That's probably her." 

"Oh my god! I can't believe you two are actually dating!" Betty had practically jumped into Archie's arms when he had opened the door, "Riverdale High's two manliest men are dating each other! If that isn't a plot twist, I don't know what is!" 

Archie felt his face heating up more and more, "We're not the manliest men at Riverdale High..."

"Pshh of course you are," Betty moved past him and gave Reggie a hug and a kiss on the cheek, "And what about you? How are you feeling?" 

Reggie grinned as he tied his shoes, "I'm just happy we don't have to sneak around everywhere. It was so annoying having to drive so far away just for a two-hour movie and some time to spend together." He got up and put on his coat, "Also having sex in the car all the time was getting pretty boring too." 

Betty laughed as Archie blushed even more, "Okay, I think it's time to get to school before we're late." 

Betty babbled on and on about their relationship for the majority of the walk.

"Oh, you guys are the cutest together!" 

Reggie laughed awkwardly, "Betty, how'd you know the two of us were dating? I mean, I was the one who came out to the whole neighborhood, Archie only told his dad." 

"I saw you come to his house while I was getting a late-night snack in the kitchen," Betty said, fixing her woolen hat, "I thought nothing of it at first, Archie's always helping people out so I thought you were just staying with him for the time being. But when I went back upstairs to my room, I saw the two of you from my window while I was fixing the curtains." 

"You didn't tell anyone, did you?" 

"Of course not," Betty replied. 

Archie's hands started to get cold and he shoved them in his pockets. He watched Reggie put up the hood of his hoodie, his breath coming out in clouds from the cold air. 

Betty sighed and suddenly stopped walking, "Veronica keeps texting me about you, Reggie."

Archie turned to look at his boyfriend before facing Betty again. Totally not because another girl was talking about him, Archie slipped a hand around Reggie's arm and pulled him close. 

"What is she saying?" Reggie tightened the link around their arms, "I haven't talked to her in a few days."

"She's really freaking out about you coming out, won't stop guessing who you're dating," Betty furrowed her brows and started walking again, "It's getting really annoying. She did the same thing when Archie broke up with her." 

"Just tell her to shut up, I guess," Archie said as nonchalantly as he could, "She'll find out soon enough."

"Someone sounds jealous," Reggie smirked and ruffled Archie's hair. 

"Fuck off," he tried fixing his hair, "Besides, I haven't forgotten what you said about the Vixens yesterday night." 

Betty's eyes widened slightly, "What did he say?"

"He said that he wanted to come out becau— mmph!" Reggie covered Archie's mouth with his hands.

He tried pulling off his hand, "He said— come out— Vix— drooling— me!" 

"He wanted to come out because he was jealous of the Vixens flirting with you?" Betty said, laughing at their display. 

Reggie turned red and tried covering his face while Archie almost slipped from laughing so hard. 

His mood quickly changed as they got closer and closer to the school. His palms were getting sweaty despite the cold and he could feel his heartbeat in his throat. The logical part of his brain told him to get his shit together and man up, no one would have any ill reactions. The worst he'd have to deal with would be gay jokes, and that didn't seem bad. Kevin never seemed to care whenever any idiots messed with him. But Archie remembered Kevin telling him about how it would be harder for a boy like Archie to come out as bisexual than it would a girl. Something about how lesbians and other women that weren't straight weren't taken as seriously because of fetishes, while manlier men were deemed to be the stronger ones that should only like women. Both instances were equally gross, but only one affected him directly in this case. 

_Snap out of it,_ Archie thought to himself, _Kevin, Cheryl, and Toni didn't have any problems and neither will you. All you have to do is walk into that school and act perfectly normal apart from walking in with Reggie._

"Well, I'm going to leave you two to plan your big entrance," Betty said. He watched as she made a beeline for Jughead, her blonde ponytail bouncing with every step she took.

Reggie let out a breath and looked at Archie, "Are you ready?" 

Archie really hoped that his anxiety didn't show on his face. But judging from Reggie's worried eyes, it probably was. 

"I am ready," Archie said, nervously looking around, "I just, I don't know. I don't know why I'm so scared. No one's going to hate or anything, I just don't know why I'm so anxious."

Reggie cupped Archie's face in his hands, "Hey, it's going to be alright. We're going to be alright. No matter what happens, no matter what anyone says, I'm always going to love you. You'll always have me. We're in this together, Red." 

Archie looked at Reggie as he calmed his breaths, studying his boyfriend's features to keep himself grounded. He still had a black eye on his left, and his right cheekbone had a smaller bruise. There was a cut the size of a small paperclip on his temple. He had told him it was from the sharp edge of his father's wedding ring. He inched forward and kissed Reggie, savoring the taste of his mouth before pulling back. There weren't many people to see them since they'd gone inside the building to escape the cold. 

"Let's get this over with, shall we?" 

Reggie threw his arm over Archie's shoulder and the two of them walked into the school. 

Right of the bat people turned and stared, mouths gaping open in surprise. Who'd expect it? Two members of the football team that paraded around with a new girl with what seemed like every week dating each other? Major plot twist. And they walked into the school last, what an entrance! All that was left was some badass background music. The two of them had coordinated their outfits together, both wearing black jeans and a black hoodie. They'd worn their Air Force 1s, making them look like they'd just popped out of a Nike commercial. 

Archie smirked and kissed Reggie's jawline. That'd shut Veronica up. Reggie was just happy to get the Vixens off of Archie's tail. He'd held up his middle finger to them as he passed them in the hallway on their way to the student lounge. 

The two of them made eye contact as they fist-bumped the rest of the football team who were also wide-mouthed and unbelieving. 

"Pretty good so far," Reggie whispered into Archie's ear as they made their way to their friends sitting on the couch. 

Archie nodded in agreement, "We'll see if it lasts..." 

"Oh. My. God." Veronica said as she walked towards the two of them. She was holding a box of cupcakes that she probably got flown over from New York, "I can't believe it. Of all people!"

She handed the cupcakes to Reggie and Archie as she kept talking, "I was texting everyone I knew about who you were dating after that video came out! How long have you been together?" 

Reggie smiled at Archie, "Well... I fell in love with him at the start of sophomore year, but we officially started dating around the start of winter break. It's almost been a year!" 

Archie returned a grin and cuddled in closer under Reggie's arm. 

"Oh you two look so in love," Josie cooed, pinching both of their cheeks, "I'm totally voting for you as best couple at the dance!" 

"Thanks, Josie. We really do appreciate it," Archie said

"Thought I heard someone talk about best couple."

Reggie and Archie sighed as they turned around to see Cheryl and Toni. 

Cheryl walked over to them and pulled them in a hug, "Congratulations on coming out, you dunderheads! Hope you know your place as Riverdale's _second-best_ couple." 

Toni put her arm on Cheryl's shoulder, "Be nice, babe," she redirected her attention to Archie and Reggie, "I'm really happy for you guys! May the best couple win." With that, she winked and pulled Cheryl away to go talk to some of the Vixens. 

"How did she make saying congrats seem like an insult," Jughead said. 

Archie whirled around to see his best friend, "I don't know, man."

"Whatever, that doesn't matter. I'm proud of you, Arch! You too, Reggie." Jughead gave him a hug, which was rare for him, "Hope it doesn't sound like an insult." 

Kevin came over with a smug expression on his face, "I'm so happy for you guys! Though, can't say I didn't see it coming, I had my suspicions about you two," he tapped his forehead and mouthed 'gaydar' and walked away. 

Archie laughed, relieved that his friends supported him. 

The bell rang and the students started filing out, heading to various classes scattered around the building. 

"I'll see you fifth period, Reg," Archie said, pulling him into a kiss. He can't believe how long he waited to do that, to be able to pull the one he loved into an embrace, not afraid of all the eyes watching them. 

Reggie smiled the smile that he only gave Archie when they were alone, the one where he looked so ridiculously in love, "I love you." 

"I love you too." 

Things may not be perfect, but as long as they had each other they'd be able to manage. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading! I really love the idea of Archie and Reggie being practically the same size so they can steal each other's clothes all the time haha  
> I really worked hard on this story, and I'm so glad that people have taken the time of their days just to read it. I'm thankful for all of you, and I really love you all! I might write a sequel for the story, most likely about college life/going off to college, but I'm not sure yet.  
> Again, please let me know if translations are incorrect in the previous chapter! Thank you again 🖤🖤🖤  
> I have another fic that I use just for drabbles and I'm taking submissions for ideas on there! If you have any suggestions for that go check it out! it's called: archie/reggie drabbles since there's not enough on here

**Author's Note:**

> I really hope you like this fic! I'm planning on writing a second chapter for it, (It'll be the last one) so you can look forward to that! I have another fic that I use just for drabbles, so if you have any suggestions for that go check it out! it's called archie/reggie drabbles since there's not enough on here
> 
> TRANSLATIONS: (Korean) 
> 
> Adi gassassa- where have you been  
> Bamsa nul gidarigo issassa- i was up all night waiting for you  
> Ne abuzziga hwanassguna!- your father is furious  
> Nu yeoxi dumbuleul mangciossa, Ywae ige gwaenchanheun jul alassa- You've ruined the bushes, too! What made you think this was okay?  
> Alassayo, amma mianhaeo- Okay, okay, mom I'm sorry  
> Chingu zom mannariogo hassnende gge daya- I was out seeing some friends, that's all.
> 
> If the Korean is wrong or the translations are wrong please don't be afraid to let me know! Korean isn't my first language and I want to make sure everything is correct in the story. Thank you!


End file.
